Abby's 3rd birthday!

We can't believe our sweet girl is 3 year old. Abby had a great birthday. We got lucky that daddy happened to be off work on her birthday, so we decided to do her favorite activity--swimming! I called my friend Heather who has a pool & the 4 of us (Kason was at school) had a great time swimming.

When Kason got home from school Abby opened her presents. From us she got some pink pajamas, a pink/purple microphone, a pink/purple whiffle ball and thrower, and a pink and purple bike with safety gear! Yes, there's a theme here. She's a pink girl. The bike is a little big at the moment, but will hopefully be just right for next spring and summer. G&G Taylor gave her 3 awesome books, a new Sunday dress, and a summer outfit for next summer. G&G Hazleton gave her 2 shirts, some capri pants, and a jacket. Aunt Char's family gave her a sticker aquarium set, and Aunt JaNae stopped by about a week after Abby's birthday and gave her a shiney pink purse with a sparkly headband and a bracelet. She loved her gifts.

When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she said "pink!" I said a pink cake with pink frosting? Yes. I said "you don't want a special shape like a butterfly or something? You just want a plain pink cake with pink frosting?" "Yes." So she got some pink cupcakes arranged in flowers. A plain old pink cake would have been so boring.

Daddy got her some pink balloons.

We invited our neighbors, the DeHaans, over to have cupcakes with us. Their daughter, Olivia, is 2 years older than Abby, but is Abby's only friend. Olivia brought Abby a mini my-little-pony, a pretty blue rock, and her hand-me-down 3 wheeled scooter that she's grown out of. How lucky! and the next morning Abby was riding that 3 wheeled scooter around the house while holding her balloons. So much fun!

Lake Powell

We are so very lucky that we got to spend 4 days last week at Lake Powell on a houseboat. My parents rented a houseboat for the whole family, and all of my siblings and families were there except Mele, Noah, Ethan & Char. When we got there, it was looking stormy and soon started raining. The weather had us worried for the first 24 hours, but then it cleared up and was beautiful! September is beautiful at Lake Powell because the temperatures are down, but the water is still warm. And having the house boat was just icing on the cake. Makes potty, meals, & sleeping much easier. And when the kids get tired or are cold, we can pop on a DVD! Thanks mom & dad, we had such a great time.

Took this picture for you Mele, since you weren't there to take it. What a cute little face!

This kid couldn't have loved walking around in the sand more! He played it in, dipped his face in it, tried to eat it, and toddled around for hours!

Tige dug a huge hole, and the kids played in it for hours the whole time we were there. Who knew a big sand hole would be so entertaining!

Taylor's first trip into the water. The was the first day when it was cold. He didn't enjoy it, as you can see. Neither did his daddy.

The slide! A big hit for everyone!

Even 2 year old Abby was SOOOO brave! She only went once though. Couldn't fool her a 2nd time.

Ole! Daddy

Our 3 stooges. Brock, Bryce, Kason

I love these boys.

Yummy water!

We used this to clean our feet before getting on the boat. Taylor, Abby, Adam & Ryan used it as a bath tub. They loved sitting in it and playing.

This is Andy's snazzy new tube. It was SOOOO fun! Even Tige and I took a ride on it while I screamed and laughed the whole time (and was sore the next day). These 5 kids would have been pulled on that tube all day long if we'd let them. They loved it.

More tubing.

I'm proud to say none of my kids got sunburned at all. I'm a sunscreen nazi!

Kason cliff jumping. He's not afraid of much!

PINK!

This cute girl turns 3 next week. Today I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, and our conversation went like this:

Me: Abby, it's your birthday next week. What do you want for your birthday for a present?
Abby: PINK
Me: Pink what?
Abby: Pink and Green
Me: What do you want that's pink? Pink toys? Pink doll? Pink Clothes?
Abby: PINK!

She is just too cute. And you'd better bet she'll get something pink. :D

(the pink jacket is an early birthday present from G&G Hazleton)

Road Rash

When we got home from Lake Powell this evening I needed to get my long run in for marathon training, so Julie drove me 15 miles up the marathon course and dropped me off.

This is what happens when a jerk driver in a big truck decides it would be fun to flash his lights at me a few times and then run me off the road. One minute I'm running, the next thing I know I'm face down in the gravel with road rash & a sprained ankle. Thanks to a good Samariatin couple from Gunlock who pulled over and went out of their way to drive me home. And to Julie for picking the gravel out and bandaging me up. Only 2 weeks to recover from this injury before marathon. Wish me luck!

Red Rock Relay, Team SWAT

Tige & I never win anything. Ever. Imagine our surprise when Tige won a $1,200.00 entry to the Red Rock Relay courtesy of The Running Center! Exciting. He put together a relay team of his friends, took our mini van and another one, and the 12 of them took turns running and partying for 24 hours. Team SWAT (sprinters, walkers, triathletes). They finished 11th overall out of several hundred teams, so these 12 are prettty amazing in my book.

L to R: Heath & Kristy Burchinal, Ryan Duckworth, Craig Coats, Jamie Egbert, Dan Earl, Tige, Dennis Jorgensen, Cathy & Ben Ford, Kristal & John Beckstrand

P.S. Tige, 3 weeks later my mini van still isn't cleaned to my satifsation! Get vacuuming! ;)

Colton Blessing

Andy & Rachel blessed their sweet new baby, Colton Wayne Taylor, over Labor Day weekend. It is such a long drive with our little kids. Tige was leaning towards not making the long drive, and I non-chalantly suggested that he stay home with the kids while I went up with my parents. His response was "now there's an idea!" WHAT? I couldn't believe he agreed to let me leave him home with the kids. I ended up taking Kason with me to Afton and Tige stayed home all weekend with the 2 little ones. My dad drove the whole way while I read a book in the back. It was AWESOME! This is baby Colton. At 6 weeks old he's smaller than Taylor was when he was born last year. I LOVED snuggling with this sweet baby. They are so fun to hold when they are so small.

Kason & Brock holding him on the morning of his blessing.


Ready with his mom in his blessing outfit.

I had to add this little tid-bit about the weekend: On Monday morning as we were packing up and getting raedy to return home, I was holding little Colton while Rachel took a shower. Kason came and starting making tooting noises with his arm pit. You know the kind. He was doing that for Colton and that baby actually smiled a big GRIN 3 TIMES at him. True story. The next day at school, Kason came home with this paper about his weekend...


It says:

I went to my uncles house. Rachel had a baby and I got to hold him. And when I arm pit fart he smiles. It was fun.



Boy did I get a good laugh out of that one! I'll bet his teacher did too. He's such a funny boy.



Thanks for having us Andy & Rachel. We were so glad to be a part of your special day.

2 Grandmas

Tige's mom and Grandma surprised us with a visit to St. George for a few days. We enjoyed playing a few games with them and having them over to dinner. It's always fun to have Grandma and Grandma-Great here!